TUESDAY -JANUARY 12

We are to meet again for breakfast at 8:00am for our ride to Rosh Pina. Our speaker this am is  (Ret.) Miri Eisin, former advisor to the Prime Minister on foreign media.

Then we are off to Caesarea and Nazareth.

Caesarea is a Roman City and this is where King Herod lived
and Pontius Pilate was the perfect of Judaea.  He was the one who convicted Jesus of treason and declared that Jesus thought himself King of the Jews and he had Jesus crucified.  King Herod saw the baby Jesus as a threat and wanted him dead.  Herod was a wicked (bad boy) King and he wasn't even Jewish . Herod was appointed by Marc Anthony of Rome.

King Herod built a beautiful palace on the sea of Caesarea which had a swimming pool ( fresh water), running water ( brought down from the hills by aqueducts from the mountains which was 16miles away). This was done by the soldiers and not slave labor. He also had an amphitheater on the beach which hosted chariots races, gladiators  and now you know- Lions 2, Christians 0 ).  This is supposedly where everything went counter clockwise and King Herod had the best seat.

Our guide Eitan explaining  the amphitheater

The original outdoor fresh water swimming pool

Of course now in the present in the ruins  is a coal plant plus a natural gas plant on the sea.  

From Caesarea we drove to Tel Megiddo.  This is an area inland  which is high on the hill and overlooked the trade routes .  It's Greek name is "Armageddon". The view is spectacular and you can see why it was a very important read of the biblical times because of the highway and the trade routes from every direction. Tel Megiddo had had 26 layers of ruins unearthed thus far and it overlooks the Jezebel Valley.

Overlooking the Valley to Nazareth

Now off to Nazareth. You are able to see Nazareth from Megiddo across the way.  We end up at the Church of Annunciation which stands over the home of the Virgin Mary. This is where the archangel, Gabriel, told the young Mary she would become the mother of the Son Of God.

Where Mary Lived

From Nazareth we went to our next stop, Mizpe Hayamin, Rosh Pinna which is our spa hotel for 2 days.  We are only 20 miles from Syria but we over look the Sea of Galilee , which the Israelis call Lake Gennesaret or Lake Tiberias. A beautiful spot high in the mountains.

The whole area of where Jesus was born and walked is extremely  mountainous and very rocky terrain.  It is a wonder they made it anywhere in a timely fashion because of the rocks and hills.  The donkeys were sure of foot.

More adventures tomorrow!!!